Why You Need to Print and What to Print Your Images On

The importance of printing your own images cannot be understated. There are a number of reasons, but I believe that it mostly comes down to perspective. Currently most entry-level cameras have at least 24-megapixel sensors, however, most screens are full HD which is only around 2 megapixels in resolution. Even a 4K screen is only around 8 megapixels. Seeing your images on any screen can never truly express the image as effectively as possible whether that is due to the colors or resolution. For this reason, printing your images can not only improve your perspective but also help with regards to improving your photography.

On that basis, we know that printing your images is important, however, the question remains: what should you print on? There are so many options currently available that is can be a little confusing if you haven’t printed on different materials before. Should you pick glass, metal, paper, or canvas? It can be a little daunting, to say the least, so in my video above I compare the different materials available from most professional printers.

The image I show in the video is what I printed on three different materials: glass, aluminum, and Forex, which is similar to canvas. This specific image can be a little difficult to print even for some professional printers due to the fact there are several dark, high-contrast sections. The colors and subtle shifts between each color can also be a little difficult to print too and this is what I was looking out for and how well each material renders them.

24 Comments

Yep. I'm done. Goodbye, FStoppers. This is a 14 minute infomercial. Why should I print my photos?
"Because they're bigger like that." Whodathunk? The last post that I recall from the author was vapid plug for Hurley's workshops. Promotional posts here aren't consistently labeled as being such and when they are, it's identified via a tag in the footnotes.

I get it. It's getting harder and harder to make a living as a professional photographer so people rely on hawking gear and selling education to those who aren't as equally disillusioned yet. But this is just perpetuating the downward spiral of things. I refuse to participate anylonger.

The video I made wasn’t sponsored or promotional. I didn’t and won’t be getting paid a penny from the company in question. The same is true for the article because they haven’t paid to have my video posted on Fstoppers.

Most professional printers I’ve worked with have had issues when it came to the darker sections of an image. The only printer that didn’t have issues with that was when I was working on a campaign for Ernst and Young, they had near perfect prints.

Also this article was more for beginners and/or photographers that haven’t printed before because as you point out most professionals already know that printing is important.

Ok... Silly question... WHY THE FSTOPPER would you print a photo like this? It's just awful. Just sooo awful. Who the bloody heck cares HOW it prints? Why would you ever start an instructional video with something this bad? It's just undermines everything you have to say.

Thank you for a relevant walk through of different print materials. I find it valuable because I often print stuff, and feel reluctant to try out new materials because I don't want so sink money into something before knowing more about it. That you mention a company name a few times only highlights that you are aware there is a thin line between product review and advertising

I agree there are a whole list of reasons but I wanted to concentrate more on comparing some of the different kinds of prints in this video. There are already plenty of articles that discuss in much more detail about why you should print.